Not Yet A Year
by my-hero-mizzy
Summary: A sequel to "A Year We Must Wait"


**AN: You have no idea how happy I am to finally post another story! This time it is a sequel to a story that I posted last year titled "A Year We Must Wait." If you have not read that one, you should probably read it first. I was originally going to wait until exactly a year had passed to post this but when the idea struck I couldn't just let it sit on my computer. Enjoy! **

At 12:16 he had been out cold. The normal wears and tears of the day had taken a tole and even thought the children were getting older and there was less to do around the house, he was exhausted. At 12:17 there was an abrupt and obnoxious noise that awoke him from his not so peaceful slumber.

Thinking that it was just his alarm clock making the damn noise he swung his hand across his night stand only to find that the noise wouldn't stop.

He finally managed to open his eyes and see the clock. "Oh Bloody Hell." he groaned as he saw the time. But doing a quick calculation in his head he knew that this wasn't right.

"You know, it hasn't been a year yet."

"Is that a problem?" He could hear what could have been either a hitched breath sigh on the other end of the phone.

"Of, course not. It is rather peculiar however."

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have called. I will just let you go then."

"No! Wait!" he practically shouted. "If it is really important to you then you can tell me. All you have to do is open your mouth." He quoted his very own line from the last time they had a late night phone conversation.

"I really shouldn't have called." She said almost in a whisper.

"CC, just tell-"

"Niles, please. Its not that easy. Its not all fun and games anymore."

"It's not?" He was truly shocked. This was totally unlike her. This isn't what he expected at all. Although he never really expected her to call him in the middle of the night anyways.

"No, its not." She sighed on the other end of the phone. It was like pulling teeth trying to get what was bothering her out of her.

"I don't know what to say." He was at a loss for words. It wasn't as if he really knew how to handle this situation.

"Could we just not say anything?"

"Haven't we been 'not saying anything' for the past fifteen years?"

"We used to be able to do this, you know?" She whispered. "We were friends once."

"We still are. It may be twisted and we may bicker but I will always be your friend."

"And the barbs and the insults?"

"All for show. I thought that you would have caught on to that by now. We can't show them who we really are so we show them what they want to see."

"It shouldn't be like this. We shouldn't have to pretend or wait a year to have an actual conversation." She hissed as she spoke.

"We didn't have to wait a year. We are talking now aren't we?"

"I suppose so." Her voice went soft.

"Are you ever going to tell me what's wrong?"

"You were the one who said that I didn't need a reason to call."

"And you don't but its after midnight and I will be serving breakfast in a few hours."

"I'm sorry for being such a bother. I will just let you sleep."

"CC wait-" he said quickly. "You aren't a bother. I just want to understand."

The line was silent for a few minutes before she spoke again. "They're married."

"And they have been for months."

"They're having twins."

"She is a couple of months along."

"The rugrats have grown up."

"They have been growing right under our noses"

"That could have been us." She said softly. "We gave it all up for them."

"It still can be us, you know. We can go back to that."

"I don't think we can, Niles."

"He got to move on why shouldn't we?"

"I...I want to, I do."

"Then why not? What is holding us back now? She would want you to be happy. They all would."

"It isn't fair."

"I know its not."

"I'm sorry for the way I treated you. I shouldn't have been so cruel."

"I get it. You were hurting. We all were."

"Do you think they will understand?"

"They don't have to understand. For once this isn't about them. This is about us."

"We won't have to wait any longer." She said into the phone as if she finally came to the realization.

"No, we won't. We might have to explain but we won't have to wait."

"We could go to England and see your parents again."

"We could, indeed."

"We could sneak off and see a Weber show." He chuckled in response.

"We could dance to the soundtracks."

"We could pick up all the pieces that were lost or broken along the way."

"We could build something totally new."

"We could talk more than once a year."

"We could talk every night if you would like and you wouldn't have to call."

"We could finally be more than just the business partner and the butler."

"We could just be Niles and CC."

"I'm sorry I called you so late, Niles."

"Don't worry, sweetheart. You won't have to wait anymore. I must get some rest but I will be pestering you in the morning to continue this conversation."

She smiled at the thought of him waiting for her. "Goodnight, Niles."

"Goodnight, Love." There was an odd sense of satisfaction that filled her heart when he called her that. Too many wasted years had stood in their way. And now, they finally had their chance.

At 3:00, he was still unable to sleep. The whole conversation felt like a dream but the beating of his heart and the soft head of blonde hair that was spread across his chest and the warm body wrapped around his, told him that it wasn't a dream. That CC actually wanted to be exactly where she was.

**AN: Reviews are welcomed! **


End file.
